To conclude their semester in the OUWB-Hispanic Outreach Services 导师ing Program (HOS), the children at the community center performed skits, 歌曲, 诗歌和更多关于各种健康相关主题的内容, ranging from personal hygiene to smoking to showcase the lessons that they learned from their OUWB mentors. This program is one of many organized by the OUWB-Hispanic Outreach Services 导师ing Program, a COMPASS community partner program that matches local Hispanic children with student mentors from OUWB.

This collaboration between OUWB and the Hispanic Outreach Services (HOS) began two years ago with Claudio Cortes, 数字式电压表, Ph.D., 微生物学助理教授, and has since grown into an official mentoring program, in which medical students and mentees embark on both entertaining and educational activities and doctors present on relevant health-related topics.

These topics include dental hygiene, sugar content, stress, sleep, nutrition and more. 据科尔特斯说, the parents report that the children are excited about the lessons, 并且经常把他们的新信息带回家. “在糖含量测试之后, one student went home and started checking the whole cabinet, 指出哪些食物是健康的或不健康的,他说. 家长们也注意到孩子们刷牙更频繁了, improved communication skills and heightened confidence.

Not only does the program hope to benefit the local children, but they also intend for medical students to walk away with an increase in both communication skills and cultural proficiency. “They feel more comfortable interacting with children,” Cortes says. “他们了解儿童的总体需求, but also specifically the needs of the Hispanic children in the community.”

今年, 该程序共有1个,080 service hours among 21 participating mentors and four student coordinators, who organized faculty presentations and plan activities. OUWB faculty members who participated by sharing their expertise with the children included Virginia Uhley, 天蓝色Farr, 沙杰汗①亚莎, 史蒂芬·洛夫特斯和詹姆斯·格罗根.

“It is an incredible opportunity for medical students to be innovative – to create things for the community, 并且改进它,科尔特斯谈到学生协调员时说. “和他们一起工作真是不可思议.”

导师 & 学员表演鼓励合作

After a great deal of hard work and effort by both the mentors and mentees, Cortes and HOS 导师ing Program Coordinator Sorangel Feliz wanted to give students the opportunity to present upon the health-related topics that sparked their interests in a creative way. They worked with current M2 OUWB Student Coordinators Belinda Asare and Connor Whitaker to organize a showcase in which students could present skits, 诗歌, 音乐与艺术.

“Every group chose a different topic that we talked about throughout the year,” Asare explains. “So, one group had a dental health skit, one did a skit on bullying…”

“我们去了亨利·福特博物馆, 一组用粘土做了一个卡车模型, and then they used the truck as an analogy for wellness, 个人卫生及保养,惠特克补充道.

为了孩子们, this showcase acted as both an outlet to explore topics discussed with their mentors and a way for them to develop other skills.

“The students put a lot of work into these performances, which helps teach discipline and commitment while providing the students a source of pride at their accomplishments,道尔顿·布拉德说, M2学生导师. “The performances also encourage collaboration and teamwork, 不仅仅是导师和徒弟之间, 但也存在于徒弟之间.”

共同学生协调员报告说, as discipline and teamwork flourished throughout the preparation process, 信心是. “当你发现自己擅长什么的时候, and you show people what you’re good at and they praise you for it, 它让你感觉很好,阿萨雷说。.

根据惠特克, the confidence boosted at this particular performance and throughout the year translates into better communication skills. “第一天, the students knew of each other; they see each other every week at church and everything, 但他们从未真正交谈过,他说. “他们很害羞和任何人说话. Now, they’re comfortable interacting with each other, with us, and with their mentors. They’re able to talk about any problems they have, or about their days.”

居屋居屋的未来

Looking forward, Cortes has a few goals in mind for the future of this mentorship program. 第一个, he hopes to get more local children involved to keep up with the increasing number of students eager to volunteer as mentors. 然后, he plans to evaluate the program in terms of how the mentor/mentee relationship affects mentees’ academic performance, 并最终实现SAT准备部分.

最终, he would like to incorporate more self-directed learning by giving the children the opportunity to choose what they’d like to learn about with their mentors. “We want to ask them what they’re interested in and have the mentor develop that,他说. “One child may want to know if it is true that electronics are bad for sleeping. This student would then determine his or her own set of learning objectives. 通过实施自主学习, 这些目标源于他们自己的需要, 他们想知道答案.”

“We want to teach a generation of children that are able to create, to do research,” Cortes says.